Fish line restrainer

ABSTRACT

For use on a spinning reel, a line restrainer to hold the end of the line when the reel is not in use. The line restrainer includes means adapting it for attachment to the bail at about its location to the housing, and means for capturing the end of the fishing line, the body being sized to fit in the space between the bail and the handle for operating the spinning reel in an out of the way disposition.

United States Patent [191 Stein Nov. 13, 1973 FISH LINE RESTRAINERInventor: Leon J. Stein, 3301 N. 7th Ave., Phoenix, Ariz. 85013 Filed:May 30, 1972 Appl. No.: 258,112

US. Cl 242/84.2 G, 242/84.1 K, 242/125.2 Int. Cl A01k 89/00 Field ofSearch 242/841 .1, 84.2 G, 242/842 A, 84.21 R, 84.2 R, 125.2, 125.3,125, 149; 43/252, 25

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,728,534 12/1955 Wallace..242/84.21R 1,920,478 8/1933 Norton ..43/25.2

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 920,854 4/1947 France 242/841 K1,176,849 4/1959 France 43/25 Primary Examiner-Billy S. TaylorAtt0rneyJohn Cyril Malloy [57] ABSTRACT For use on a spinning reel, aline restrainer to hold the end of the line when the reel is not in use.The line restrainer includes means adapting it for attachment to thebail at about its location to the housing, and means for capturing theend of the, fishing line, the body being sized to fit in the spacebetween the bail and the handle for operating the spinning reel in anout of the way disposition.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 1 FISH LINE RESTRAINER This inventionrelates to spinning reels for use in fishing and, more particularly, toan improved spinning reel with anti-foulingmeans for the line so that itdoes not unwind and a length of it becomes tangled and snarled when notin use, as when stored or being transported to a fishing site.

As is perhaps well known, spinning reels used in fishing include a spoolon which a supply of a line is wound and which is free spinning and thatsuch reels include means to apply a drag to the line when a fish ishooked so that it can be reeled in against a tension applied to the lineby reason of the drag. Most often, when such spinning reels are not inuse and stored, the fishing line becomes unwound from the spool; and,when this happens, there is created a snarl and a knotted tangled linewhich must be unraveled or out before the device can be used.

The present invention is of a line restrainer which is mounted bysuitable means to the bail of a spinning real and which is adapted tokeep the line in order when it is not in use, stored, or beingtransported. The line restrainer includes a body having a groove sizedto receive the end zone portion of the bail adjacent the pivot.

mount, when it is connected to the housing for the spool; the body ofthe line restrainer is sized to fit in the space between the bail andthe handle, which is used for rotating the spool so that it does notinterfere with rotation of the handle in use. The body of the restrainerincludes mounting means for attachment to the bail which in thepreferred embodiment is in the formof a groove in the restrainer bodywhich is adapted to receive the bale and a screw adapted to bethreadedly received in the bore and advanced into gripping relationagainst the bale to hold it firmly in captivated position in the groove.The body also includes an aperture or recess into which the line end isadapted to be inserted and a keeper which is moved into and out ofholding relation of the line, so thatit does notbecome unraveled. Inuse, one simply secures the line to the line restrainer by a) passingtheend into a catch provided on the line restrainer and b) applying aslight drag to the reel so that it will not turn while it is in storage.Thereafter, in storage the line will not-become entangled or unraveledand create a snarl. I

In the past, numerous devices have been made and taught for use torestrain a line on a spool so that it does not become entangled whenthey are stored or transported. Such a prior art effort is found in US.Pat. No. 3,164,334, in which a device is provided for attachment to thebase or a footed portion of the spinning reel and in which the end ofthe line is adapted to be wound about and secured thereby. The instantinvention comprises an improvement over the devices in the prior art andthat of the aforesaid patent in that it comprises a simple piece to beattached to the bail in an out of the way position without the need forcomplicated operating parts.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvedline restrainer or means for maintaining a line in an orderly conditionon a spinning reel spool when not in use. More specifically, it is thegeneral object of this invention to provide an inexpensive restrainerfor a line, which restrainer is adapted to be mounted to a conventionalbail employed on spinning reels, the restrainer being sized to fit in anout of the way location on thebail and between the periphery of thespace generated by the rotation of the handle and the spool housing. Itincludes means, in addition to those for attachment of the device to thebail, for grasping and holding a line when not in use and adapted torelease the line for use in fishing.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparenthereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with referenceto the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of aspinning reel provided with the instantinvention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view which has been partly broken away andwhich illustrates the restrainer; and

FIG. 3 is a view in cross section taken on the plane indicated by theline -33 of FIG. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference characters designatelike or corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral 12generally designates a spinning reel including a portion 14 forattachment to a rod and a housing 16 for the spool 18 which is rotatableabout a fore-to-aft axis. The spinning reel includes conventional meansfor rotating the spinning reel and for reciprocating into and out of thehousing for distribution ofthe line over the spool. Also, as isconventional, the spinning reel includes a conventional drag inducingmeans, not shown, a bail 20, and a handle 22 for operating the reel.With further reference to the drawings, it is seen that the bailincludes a first end 26 which is pivotally connected to a boss 28 on thehousing and a mechanism 30 on the opposite bail end whereby the bail ispivotally connected to the housing for movement across the path ofdischarge of the line. As is conventional, the bale includes a catchmeans to catch the line when it is slipped into position, asis wellknown. In-use the handle operator 22 is rotated about an axis which isperpendicular generally tothe axis of the spool and, when the handle isrotated, a space is defined between it and the bail which is relativelyclose to thehousing. It is in this space that the restrainer 30 issecured to the bail, see'FIG. 1..The restrainer includes a body 32'andmounting means for attachment of it to the bail, which in the preferredembodiment is in the form of a groove 34 through the front surface ofthe body, the groove being sized to receive the bail as shown and to actin combination with a keeper means to releasably secure it to the bail.More particularly, the keeper means for the bail comprises a threadedbore 36 which is aligned on a line spaced from the floor 38 of thegroove a distance about equal to the diameter of the conventional baseand a threaded screw 40 for threaded advancement into and out of thegroove to contact and to hold the bail to hold the restrainer inposition, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, it being noted that the screw40 is accessible from the outside surface 42 of the body of therestrainer. Also, the restrainer body includes anaperture 44 into whichthe end of the line 46 is adapted to be inserted and so as to be adaptedfor contact with the end of a threaded screw 48 which is advanceable ina threaded bore 50 so that the end of the screw 50 grips the line andholds it when advanced. In use, one merely inserts the end of the lineinto the aperture, and, after drag is applied, the line will not becomeuntangled.

What is'claimed is:

l. A line restrainer for attachment to the hail of a spinning reelhaving a housing, a spool journaled in the housing, and a fore to aftaxis, a bail pivotally mounted to the housing and swingable across theaxis of the spool, and a handle with a lateral axis of rotation andmeans for rotation of the spool, the handle being in spaced relationoutside of the bail and housing,

said restrainer including,

a body with a top and bottom surface, opposing inside and outsidesurfaces, and a front and rear surface;

a groove in the body across the front surface, said groove being sizedto receive and nest a length of the bail adjacent its connection to thehousing,

first keeper means on the body and accessible from the outside surfaceto captivate the bail in the groove;

means in the body to receive the end of the line;

and

second keeper means to captivate the end of the line in the means toreceive,

the dimension of said body between said outside surface and the groovebeing less than the distance between the bail ofa conventional spinningreel and the distance to the inside surface of the handle from the bail,whereby the restrainer is adapted to ride upon the reel withoutinterference with manipulation of the operator of the spinning reel.

2. The line restrainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first keepermeans comprises a first threaded bore extending from said outsidesurface through the body to the groove, said groove lying between saidinside and outside surfaces, and a threaded screw in the first threadedbore advanceable into and out of the groove to bear against andcaptivate the bail when in the groove.

3. The restrainer as set forth in claim 2 wherein said second keepermeans comprises a second threaded bore extending from the top surfaceand to the recess and a threaded screw advanceable through the secondbore into and out of the recess to bear against the end of a line tocaptivate the same when inserted therein.

4. The restrainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein said second keepermeans comprises a second threaded bore extending from the top surfaceand to the recess and a threaded screw advanceable through the secondbore into and out of the recess to bear against the end of a line tocaptivate the same when inserted therein.

1. A line restrainer for attachment to the bail of a spinning reelhaving a housing, a spool journaled in the housing, and a fore to aftaxis, a bail pivotally mounteD to the housing and swingable across theaxis of the spool, and a handle with a lateral axis of rotation andmeans for rotation of the spool, the handle being in spaced relationoutside of the bail and housing, said restrainer including, a body witha top and bottom surface, opposing inside and outside surfaces, and afront and rear surface; a groove in the body across the front surface,said groove being sized to receive and nest a length of the bailadjacent its connection to the housing, first keeper means on the bodyand accessible from the outside surface to captivate the bail in thegroove; means in the body to receive the end of the line; and secondkeeper means to captivate the end of the line in the means to receive,the dimension of said body between said outside surface and the groovebeing less than the distance between the bail of a conventional spinningreel and the distance to the inside surface of the handle from the bail,whereby the restrainer is adapted to ride upon the reel withoutinterference with manipulation of the operator of the spinning reel. 2.The line restrainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first keepermeans comprises a first threaded bore extending from said outsidesurface through the body to the groove, said groove lying between saidinside and outside surfaces, and a threaded screw in the first threadedbore advanceable into and out of the groove to bear against andcaptivate the bail when in the groove.
 3. The restrainer as set forth inclaim 2 wherein said second keeper means comprises a second threadedbore extending from the top surface and to the recess and a threadedscrew advanceable through the second bore into and out of the recess tobear against the end of a line to captivate the same when insertedtherein.
 4. The restrainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein said secondkeeper means comprises a second threaded bore extending from the topsurface and to the recess and a threaded screw advanceable through thesecond bore into and out of the recess to bear against the end of a lineto captivate the same when inserted therein.